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Namibia: New Twist to '419' Internet Scam
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The Namibian (Windhoek)
8 April 2008
Posted to the web 8 April 2008
John Grobler
Windhoek
THE total lack of any Namibian laws governing the Internet and related online commerce has once again been highlighted after a local businessman became involved in an apparent attempt to fleece a Swiss-based online business of US$15,5 million (about N$121 million) in goods.
Samantha Galtos, founder and owner of www.bedroomsinboxes.com, last week complained that a Windhoek businessman, 44-year-old John Benjamin, had allegedly tried to defraud her in a new twist on the well-known Nigerian "419" scam.
The "419" scam, so named after a section in the Nigerian penal code, involves tricking people into handing banking details or paying large commissions over in the hope of making a quick profit on letting their bank accounts be used to transfer large sums of usually ill-begotten money.
But Benjamin said he was merely acting as an agent and broker, and had approached Galtos on behalf of a "Dr Paul Torlay", seemingly based in Ghana, to fill an order for 500 000 T-shirts, 500 000 single bed sheets, 500 000 double bed sheets and one million cotton pillowcases on behalf of the "Ghanaian Ministry of Interior."
Benjamin, who operates a locally registered company called Jodawa Trading Enterprises CC, said he was simply relaying Torlay's "urgent order" and insisted that he did not intend defrauding or deceiving Galtos in any way.
In correspondence forwarded by Galtos, Benjamin asked that Galtos pay him a commission of one per cent on the US$15,5 million order, amounting to more than N$1,2 million at current exchange rates.
"You will need to offer us 1% of the total invoice value as our commission as soon as the contract payment is made to your bank account.
The terms of payment is 100% through bank-to-bank telegraphic transfer in advance before production (sic)," Benjamin wrote to Galtos.
In an e-mail to Benjamin, "Dr Torlay" also asked for a one per cent commission, and it appeared from copies of e-mails forwarded by Benjamin to prove his innocence that he had simply copied Torlay's requests in his own e-mail to Galtos in Switzerland.
Benjamin said he had signed a non-circumvention agreement with "Dr Torlay" after he had supplied proof of his company's registration and other details.
But he did not ask Torlay to provide the same to him, he admitted.
Galtos in an e-mail said she immediately became suspicious as the business was ostensibly based in the Schoemans Building in Klein Windhoek but was acting on behalf of a Ghanaian client.
It was also highly unusual for an African company to offer to pay in full for such large orders, she said.
"I was a bit suspicious considering the size of the request, so I called the guy, he said the orders were for hospitals in Ghana, which was slightly odd considering they wanted 500 000 double bed sheets and not even Cedars Sinai Hospital in the United States offers double beds!" Galtos wrote.
Galtos then called up the Ghanaian Ministry of Interior in Accra to verify Benjamin's claims, but was told by a very indignant receptionist not to pay a single cent over to Jodawa Trading CC because no such tender existed, she wrote.
Benjamin admitted that he did not attempt to verify if such a tender did in fact exist but that he simply responded to a request posted on the B2B (Business-to-Business) website Alibaba.com.
"I get lots of requests, on daily basis, for business like this," he said, which included a massive order for cement.
When it was pointed out to him that he effectively had placed a fraudulent order, in his own company's name, he repeated that he was "simply an agent, a broker."
He however did not offer any explanation why he offered to pay prices lower than the original prices asked for in the e-mail from "Dr Paul Torlay", whose address is given as "Ghana Ministry of Interior (MOI), Ministries, Accra."
Benjamin said he immediately wrote to Galtos, explaining the circumstances of the order.
Galtos still held him responsible, an e-mail she sent him later made clear.
"She can lay a charge with the Police if she wants to, there's nothing wrong with what I did," Benjamin protested.
Even though the Office of the Prime Minister had in 2004 said legislation governing the Internet and online businesses would be tabled in the National Assembly within a year, no such law has yet seen the light.
The delay was due to the fact that the Namibian Communications Bill, which was first drafted in 1999 and would provide the regulatory framework for such laws, has yet to be finalised, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting indicated yesterday.
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* John Grobler is a freelance journalist, 081 240 1587
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